What is Eclectic Paganism?

(skip to Open Letter aka I am a witch letter )

I am an eclectic pagan. If I chose to attend a ritual, or perform a ceremony, it is going
to be a form of Wicca, heavily spiced by Mesoameria. However, none of my friends
are 100% Wiccan either; they also practice Norse magick, Dragon magick, Mayan
magick, whatever kind of magick they like, all mixed together, and so do I. Because
of the direction my Reiki training has led me, I have some Buddhist beliefs, but I am
not a Buddhist either. I also used to be a Catholic (but I got better).
Beliefnet.com has a quiz to figure out what religion you are. Try it, its enlightening!
Lee Carroll, the Kryon channel, said that he considered his religion to be New Age
and I agree with him, although before I heard him say that I never thought of New
Age as a religion. So I am New Age, NOW age, Wiccan, pagan, whatever feels
right. I know that God/dess loves me no matter what I call her, and she loves you
too.
I mostly identify myself as pagan because my ceremonies have gone so far
beyond what Wiccans do. So many people just dont get what Wicca is (hence the
letter, below), and its so tiresome to explain about witches and now the whole Harry
Potter thing...sigh.
I wrote the letter below shortly after Yule 1998. I was upset at getting some
inappropriate gifts and knew Id never be able to speak up and say, you should not
have given that to me. Plus, I get Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which means
Im easily upset around Yule, especially when the stock reply to I dont celebrate
Christmas is, oh, happy Hanukkah , like theres only 2 religions: Christianity and
Judaism. If I reply, Im a witch/pagan, I celebrate Yule, I either get my head patted (I
AM NOT CUTE!) or the even worse Oh, are you a good witch? Will any of them
ever see this letter? Perhaps. If you have this problem, point your accusers toward
this letter. Hope it helps!
Merry Meet
Gevera })I({
An Open Letter to Everyone I Know:
I am a witch.
I do not worship Satan; I am not interested in Satan. Satan was invented by the
Christians. Satanism is a form of Christianity. I am not a Christian. I dont go to
church on Sunday. Jesus is NOT my savior. He was simply a holy man who lived
2,000 years ago. I am not afraid of going to Hell because I dont believe in Hell any
more than I believe in Satan. I believe in reincarnation; that I will come back to this
world or another and live out another life.

I am not evil. Telling people I am a good witch or asking me if I am a good witch

implies that there are evil witches. There are evil people in the world, and there are
people who chose to work with the forces of nature in a way that harms others;
those people are NOT witches. The central law of being a witch is: if it harms none,
do as you will.
Please dont ask me about sacrificing cats or desecrating churches. I love my cats.
And I dont go into churches or synagogues unless a friend from that religion invites
me to some special occasion. And if I DO enter a church, I am not struck by
lightning. And if a Christian or a Jew or a Buddhist came to a pagan ritual, our gods
would not strike them dead either. Isnt that something to think about?
Wearing a pentacle is no different than wearing a cross, crucifix, or Star of David. If
you want me to take off the symbol of MY religion (and Wicca is a religion, protected
by the same First Amendment rights as other religions) because its offensive, you
need to make everyone of every religion do that. The five points of the star signify
the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire & Water, and the fifth point is Spirit; encircled by
the World. How that can offend anyone boggles my little pagan mind. An image of a
tortured, dying man is more offensive, yet thousands of people openly wear
crucifixes every day.
Also, dont ask me if Im in a coven in that half-horrified, half-fascinated tone of
voice. If I want to talk about my coven, I will bring it up. If I am a solitary practitioner, I
have no coven to discuss. In any case, our rituals have candles, food, drink, poetry,
dancing...yes, there is a knife but it only cuts the air, not anyones flesh. I dont drink
blood. I am not some kind of vampire. I wear black because it keeps negativity away
and because it looks better on me than orange and purple polka dots.
If you want to ask me something related to MY religion, ask me when the next full
moon is. Or the next blue moon. Or what a blue moon IS. Ask me about herbs.
Crystals. Healing. Even ask me to make you a love potion. But I dont cast spells on
other people and I wont cast a spell on you to make you prettier, thinner, more
desirable. And I wont cast a spell on your quarry to make him/her love you. Trust
me, you dont want that, you dont want the karma that involves, and neither do I!
Thats a form of manipulation, taking away someones power, infringing on their free
will. Not nice at all. And I also wont cast a binding spell to make someone STOP
doing something to you.
Spell work is about co-creation. A witch works with universal energy, with the gods,
to tilt the engine of probability somewhat. Need money? Dont try to ensorcel your
boss to give you a raise. Simply ask the universe to increase the flow of abundance
in your direction. That infringes on NO ONEs free will.
One last thing: giving me a book about the Burning Times is like giving a book on the
Holocaust to a Jewish person. Its not funny and is rude. Yes, I do go to Salem, but
not because any of those poor executed people were witches (I think the jury is still

out on some of them), but because theres cool pagan shops there. If there were
cool pagan shops in a town called East Cowflop, Id go there.
Please dont try to make me ashamed of who I worship and what I am. Please dont
try to convert me or save me. Dont throw holy water on me. Dont leave little
pamphlets on my desk or windshield. I dont need to be saved. Witches are proud of
the fact that we dont recruit people to become witches. We simply ARE, and those
around us see how we think, how we act, and our inner peace, and only when
someone says how do I become a witch? do we take them into the fold with us. I
will NEVER leave a religious tract with anyone. I dont have one, unless you count
this letter. And I am not asking you to convert. I am only asking you to understand. If
you dont want to understand, just leave me alone.
Blessed Be,
A Witch
2000 geverabert at netscape.net www.obsidianbutterfly.com
Please do not distribute without this caveat. Thank you.
A note about this letter: about 6 months after I wrote it for a print magazine (Curious
Minds, published by Curious Goods), someone started e-mailing it around and
claiming ownership. I am and always have been the owner of this. If you see this
posted anywhere without my name on it, please let me know. If youd like to post it
on YOUR site, all you have to do is ask. Really. Im a good witch. [wink]This letter,
unfortunately, has been INCREDIBLY plagiarized. I guess I should take it as a
compliment. If youve seen this posted somewhere else, please
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